On Sunday Feb 20th my buddy Abbott and I set out to try our hand at the Anza-Borrego FKT set by Gabe and Tim. Their write up was awesome (thanks guys!) and we copied their style and tactics pretty much to a tee.
We dropped water for ourselves at mile 16 early in the morning and then drove to the sunrise tail head. The first 13-16 miles was delightful. Rolling trail, down hill, nice temp. Also we had the same two route detours that they mentioned in that section.
After the water cache things got hotter and rougher... We trucked on past off-roaders and desert landscapes for another couple hours. Around mile 33 Abbott's rusty knees gave in to the soul sucking sand monster and after some discussion we parted ways to try to get one of us over the line in our goal time. I hobbled away at a slightly faster pace and Abbott carried on walking down the wash. Abbott's partner Arielle scooped him up around mile 39 and then came and grabbed me at the finish.
Final stats: a slightly faster Anza-Borrego crossing time. Tripled Abbott's longest run distance. Blown out knees. A Gatorade-puke smelling car door.
Wicked fun route. Totally would recommend to anyone just getting into running.